. 



rf **'f?.VWl»ii 




LIBRARY OF CC 




chap. .. f?3 Oirgf 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 








Chile. 



Ppw?^ 




Chile. 










Times Printing House, 725 and 727 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 

' 4"8 



CHILE. 



BOUNDARIES. 

The Republic of Chile, which during the last few years 
has justly attracted the attention of the world by its energy 
both in peace and in war, occupies the narrow strip of coun- 
try lying along the southwestern part of South America, 
between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It 
extends from the Camarones River, in 19 I2 r 30" south lati- 
tude, to Cape Horn, in latitude 55 -59'. Its boundaries, then, 
are the Andes on the east, the Pacific on the south and west, 
and the Camarones River on the north, separating it from 
Peru. The boundary treaty, made with the Argentine Repub- 
lic October 22, 188 1, terminated a long controversy concerning 
the- dividing line between the two countries, and gave to Chile 
the greater part of Terre del Fuego Island and all the Straits 
of Magellan. The new boundary line takes Cape Virgin on 
the Atlantic (Dunguenes Point) for its starting point, running 
directly south to the ocean, and west to the summit of Mt. 
Aymon, thence along the northern shore of the Straits of 
Magellan to where it intercepts the 5 2d parallel of latitude 
in longitude yo° west. Thence the line follows the Summit 
of the Andes to the northern extremity of the two countries. 
The boundary lines between Chile and Bolivia and Peru have 
not yet been definitely settled by treaty. In June, 1882, the 
Chilean administration submitted to Congress a bill making 
the Camarones River the boundary, thus annexing the rich 
Peruvian Tarapaca, and all the sea-coast of Bolivia, which 
formerly extended from the 24th parallel north to the Loa 
River, which separated Bolivia from Peru. 

(3) 



A lower range of mountains, called the Cordilleras of the 
Coast, runs parallel with the loftier Andes, and walls in the 
great central plain, leaving only narrow passes for the rivers 
which descend from the Andes. 

The area of Chile in 1879 was 22 9-3°4 square miles; but 
now, with the additional territory provisionally occupied and 
perhaps permanently annexed, it is about 300,000 square 
miles. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The narrow, fertile strip of land which forms the terri- 
tory of this small but energetic nation, may be regarded as 
the skirt of the Andes, sloping rapidly towards the Pacific, and 
traversed by numerous rivers which fertilize it, and which, if 
not navigable on account of the swiftnest of their currents, 
yet offer an invaluable motive force for all the modern indus- 
tries which need for their propulsion a cheap power. The 
natural declivity of the country will produce, in a few hundred 
yards, fall enough for the largest wheels. The peculiarity of 
this territory, aside from the diversity of its climate, which 
varies from that of the tropics to that of the antarctic regions, 
is the variety of its geological and topographical structure, 
wrought out by the two great natural forces, the Cordilleras 
and the ocean. 

The first or northern section or zone, which includes the old 
provinces of Atacama and Coquimbo to the Aconcagua River 
and the territories of Antofogasta and Tarapaca recently* 
acquired, is composed for the most part of sterile lands covered 
with sea-sand, but prodigiously rich in minerals. This may 
be justly denominated the mineral zone. The province of 
Coquimbo alone produces one-fifth of all the copper consumed 
in the world. The province of Atacama has exported and is 
exporting as much silver as Potosi in Bolivia, Guanajuato in 
Mexico, and Nevada in the United States together ; while 
Taltal, Antofogasta and Tarapaca are able to supply all the 
markets of the world with saltpetre, borax and gypsum. All 
the northern part of Chile is rich in minerals, and its scanty 
rivers have been abundant in gold. 



5 

The second zone which commences at the Aconcagua 
River and extends to the Bio-Bio, called, on account of its 
length, breadth and historic fame, "the King of Chilean 
rivers," may be denominated the agricultural section or central 
plain {llano). It is formed of a series of extensive, almost 
level, valleys, which give every appearance of once having 
served as basins for great lakes, whose waters, on retiring, left 
rich deposits of soil brought down from the mountains, 
and which to-day yield such abundant crops of cereals. In 
these old sea-bottoms are found fossil remains of extinct 
animals, relics of primitive man, and rare fragments of the age 
of stone. This section includes the provinces of Valparaiso, 
Aconcagua, Santiago, Colchagua, Talca, Maule, Nuble, 
Linares and Conception. After passing the Maule, the cen- 
tral valleys do not have the same lake-basin form as those just 
to the north. 

The mean breadth of these valleys is from 75 to 
IOO miles, and counting from the Andes to the Pacific 
it is from 150 to 180 miles. The total length of the territory 
from the Camarones River to Cape Horn is a little over thirty- 
six degrees, or nearly 2,500 miles. 

The third zone, which extends from the Bio- Bio to the 
Tolten River, has been occupied by the indomitable Arauca- 
nian Indians, who, to the number of thirty or forty thousand, 
live as the Apachas of the north, without submitting to the 
laws of civilization. Araucania forms the most beautiful and 
fertile part of Chile. The white race is rapidly encroaching 
on these fertile lands. The frontier line, which was formerly 
at the Bio-Bio, has been carried to the Malleco, sixty miles 
to the south, and an effort is being made to extend it to 
the Imperial or Cautin River, which divides Araucania 
in the centre. At the south an effort is making to 
advance from Valdivia to the Tolten River, thus closing in 
these unconquered tribes between this river and the Cautin. 
In this way these savage tribes will be reduced to the extremity 
of finally submitting to governmental control, or of escaping to 
the pampas (plains) of the Argentine Republic, through the 
narrow mountain passes which that country has already begun 



to fortify. The destiny of the Araucanians is as certainly 
sealed as is that of the " red skins " of the United States. 

The fourth zone of the orography and hydrography ot 
Chile includes the system of lakes not yet drained by plutonic 
action, as were those at the north. Of these the Andina lake 
Villa Rica, the source of the Tolten River, is the most pic- 
turesque, and Lake Llanquihue, thirty miles in from the coast, is 
the largest. This zone includes all the southern end of Chile, 
and is likewise the section of the great primitive forests. 

CLIMATE. 

The climate of these sections has the same variety as their 
latitudes. In the deserts of Antofogasta and Atacama it never 
rains except at intervals of many years ; at Coquimbo and 
Copiapo only four or five inches of rainfall during the year. 
In the central section the fall is about thirty inches, and in the 
lake region sixty to eighty inches. It is a common saying in 
Chiloe and Valdivia, as in Boston, that " it rains thirteen months 
in the year." In general the climate of Chile is mild, healthful, 
and delicious. No venomous insects are known, nor any fero- 
cious animals ; nor has the country ever been visited w r ith 
cholera, yellow fever, black erysipelas, or any other contagious 
disease except small-pox. The ravages of this disease are due 
not to the climatic conditions of the country, but to the care- 
less and filthy habits of the lower race of people, the inefficiency 
of the sanitary regulations and lack of energy on the part of 
the authorities. The House of Deputies has just rejected (July, 
1882) a bill for obligatory vaccination, which had passed. the 
Senate unanimously a month earlier. 

If it were not for the constant drain caused by this disease 
among the lower classes, and the fearful mortality of children, 
which reaches the incredible proportion of seventy-five per 
cent, of the births, it is the common opinion that Chile would 
have a population of five or six millions ; that is to say, double 
or treble its present number. When all its productive territory 
is inhabited, Chile will sustain a population of from sixteen to 
twenty million people. 



The winter months are June, July, and August ; the spring 
months, September, October, and November; the summer 
months, December, January, and February ; and the autumn 
months, March, April, and May. In the central part of the 
country, where are situated Santiago, in the great mountain 
valley at the foot of the Andes, and at Valparaiso, the principal 
port, it seldom rains, except during the winter months. All 
the harvesting north of the Bio-Bio is done in the open air, as 
in Italy and California. 

The mean temperature at Santiago and Valparaiso, in 
latitude 33 , corresponds to that of Naples, — that is, to 42 
north latitude, — and is considered a little hotter (5 ) in sum- 
mer than that of Paris and London, and not so cold in winter 
by 9 degrees. The mean temperature in summer is yo° F., 
and in winter 5 2°, and for the year 61 °. There is not a milder, 
more uniform climate in all the world than that of Chile. So 
little variation is there, that for weeks, and even months, at 
some ports on the coast, the thermometer marks no change 
whatever. 

During the three and a half centuries of European occu- 
pation, the climate was more or less uniform, occasional 
exceptions occurring in the way of periods of drought, which 
continued from three to nine years, and were followed by as 
many years of rain. So severe were some of these, that the 
crops and herds were nearly all destroyed. The droughts 
recorded in the history of the country were from 1637 to 1640, 
1705 to 17 1 8, in 1725, 1743, and in 1771. This last was fol- 
lowed in 1783 by the greatest flood ever known, Santiago 
having been almost destroyed by it. In the present century, 
the year of least rain, as marked at Valparaiso, was 1863, when 
only 4.48 inches fell ; and the year of the largest quantity of 
rain was 1868, when 35 inches fell. After this last period, 
there followed several years of comparative drought ; but since 
1877 there has been a rainy period again, which still continues. 
From January 1 to September 1 of the present year, 17 inches 
of rain have fallen in the central section ; and, as a rare occur- 
rence, there have been heavy rainfalls at Cobija and Tocopilla, 
north of the desert of Atacama, as also at Callao and Lima, in 



8 

Peru. It is worthy of note that, in all parts of the desert of 
Atacama, there are still marks of great floods of former times ; 
and when, as in the present year, there are rains on these sands, 
they are quickly covered with bright flowers, and even succu- 
lent grasses. 

On account of its geographical configuration, southern 
latitude, climate, products, and clear skies, it has frequently 
been designated "the Italy of South America;" but the cli- 
mate and geographical structure of this country show a greater 
similarity to California. The Andes correspond to the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains; and the central valley, from the Mapocho 
to the Maule, to the valley of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, 
except that these last rivers are navigable. The coast range 
is found in both countries, and the intervening valleys produce 
the same cereals, fruits, flocks, and herds. Gold abounds also 
in Chile, and before the discovery of this metal in California 
the gold mines and washings of Chile held the same place in 
the money market of South America that those of California 
hold in North America. 

The earthquakes have been supposed to exert an active 
influence on the climate of Chile. It has been observed that 
almost all of these disturbances have been followed immedi- 
ately by copious rains. 

EARTHQUAKES. 

The heaviest earthquakes that have been known in Chile 
since the conquest, are the one of May 4, 1633, which 
destroyed Carelmapu in the south ; the memorable one of May 
13, 1647, which was felt generally throughout the country, and 
which completely destroyed the capital with the loss of life of 
nearly one-third of the population, then about twelve thousand. 
Those of July 8, 1730, and May 27, 175 1, caused great 
tidal waves, and destroyed the ports of Valparaiso and Con- 
cepcion. So complete was the destruction of the latter city, 
that it was rebuilt on an entirely new site several miles inland. 

In the present century, as if the violent action of creation 
had been calmed in these territories, which geologists regard 
as of comparatively modern formation, the earthquakes have 



been only local, and scarcely merit the name. The most nota- 
ble have been the one on November 29, 1822, which again 
destroyed Valparaiso; the one on February 20, 1835, which 
destroyed Concepcion in its new site. During the entire cen- 
tury, thus far, the casualties have not been, all told, a hundred, 
while the earthquake of i860 on the eastern slope of the 
Andes completely destroyed the city of Mendoza, causing a 
loss of twelve thousand lives; those on August 13, 1868, and 
May 9, 1877, which devastated the coast of Peru, the tidal waves 
reaching far into the interior, carrying with them heavy vessels, 
as was done in the bay of Arica with Wateree, a corvette of 
the United States. These were only slightly felt in the centre 
of Chile. Whatever influence may be attributable to volca- 
noes, in earthquakes, it is evident from observation that in 
Chile they affect them perceptibly, decreasing or wholly 
destroying their violence. 

THE ANDES AND THEIR VOLCANOES. 

The Andes, of which the most southerly peak forms Cape 
Horn, present in Chile an immense range, their course being 
north and south. Their base has a uniform breadth of about 
a hundred and fifty miles. The rivers rising in them run 
almost parallel at right angles to the Pacific, and cut the 
mountains with immense gorges and canons. The rainfall 
on the eastern side is much less, because the Cordilleras inter- 
cept the moisture borne in from the Pacific. The Andes ot 
Chile are a somewhat homogeneous mass, having a mean alti- 
tude of eight thousand to ten thousand feet, but without the 
little table lands, as represented by some travelers and geog- 
raphers. On the contrary, it is only at the north that the 
Andes divide into two arms and form the high table-land of 
Bolivia, the Jauja and Cajamarca, in Peru ; the Riobamba, in 
Ecuador ; and, lastly, the extended and beautiful plains of 
Cundinamarca, in New Granada. 

According to Pissis, not less than seventy volcanoes, 
extinct and active, crown the range of the Chilean Andes from 
Mt. Isluga, and the San Pedro volcano, in the newly acquired 
territory, to Mt. Sarmiento at the extreme southern limit 



IO 

of the Republic. The most noted peaks are the following : 
Mt Aconcagua, 22,418 feet; its near neighbor, Mt. 
Tupungato, back of Santiago, but hid from view, 21,104 f eet ; 
Mt. Maipo and its twin, Mt. San Jose, 17,660 and 18,145 
feet respectively. The latter has been in a state of activity 
since March 2, 1 881 ; its two columns of smoke being visible 
from Santiago. Naturalists have called attention to the fact 
that this eruption, in a long extinct volcano of the Andes, cor- 
responds to the day, with earthquakes, which caused great 
damage in the centre of Europe, especially in Valais, Switzer- 
land, and Agran, Hungary. Mt. Peteroa has been one ol 
the most violent. It experienced a frightful eruption Decem- 
ber 3, 1762. To the south of the Maule River rise two vol- 
canoes, Chilian and Antuco, 6,110 and 9,184 feet respectively, 
which flame up alternately. The former threw out immense 
quantities of earth and rock in 1861 and 1863. Mt. Villa 
Rica looms up over the plains of Araucania with its shining 
dome, 1 5,990 feet high. South of it, Mt. Calbuco, 7,380 feet, 
mirrors itself in the crystaline waters of Lake Llanquihue. 
Still south, Mt. Corcobado, 7,511 feet, rises like a great 
hump, and is visible from the seas of Chiloe. 

LAKES. 

In the geographical region which we have designated as 
the lake zone, many are found. Lake Llanquihue, triangu- 
lar in form, twenty to thirty miles across, is the largest. 
Others are Lake Mallalanquen, or Villa Rica, twenty-four 
miles in circumference ; Lake Rinigue, the source of the Val- 
divia River ; and Lake Ranco, the source of the Bueno River. 
In the highlands of the Andes are found several small lakes 
called the Duck Lakes, from the wild birds that inhabit them. 
The most notable is Lake Mondaca, near the source of the 
Maule River. At the mouths of most of the larger rivers 
little salt lakes or seas are formed by the sands which are 
thrown up, making dangerous bars, as in the Bio-Bio, Maule, 
and Bueno Rivers. The picturesque little lake, Acubo, a few 
miles from Santiago, 12,530 feet above sea level, affords a 
glimpse of real Swiss scenery. 



ISLANDS. 

Besides Chiloe Island and its numerous archipelagoes, 
Guayteca Island, covered with dense forests, and the group 
of islands which form Smith's Channel, Chile has at little dis- 
tance from her coast a series of islands beginning at Mocha 
Island, and extending to Pascua Island, discovered by the 
pirate Davis in 1680. Juan Fernandez Island, four hundred 
miles west of Valparaiso, is the most celebrated, as the home 
of " Robinson Crusoe." 

HOT SPRINGS, OR THERMAL WATERS. 

All the territory of Chile, by virtue of its volcanic forma- 
tion, according to the observation of Darwin and Fitz Roy, 
made in 1835, is particularly rich in mineral' waters. Espe- 
cially is this the case in the immediate vicinity of the Andes. 
There is scarcely a valley that has not iron alkaline and sul- 
phur springs, with valuable medicinal properties. They are 
found especially valuable for diseases of the skin and blood 
(anaemia and chlorosis), the organs of digestion, chronic rheu- 
matism, and gout. Eighteen miles to the north of the capital 
are the Colina Baths, which have been in the possession of the 
Dominican Friars since the last century. The Apoquindo 
Baths are a short distance to the east and the Cauquenes 
Baths, known from time immemorial, are sixty miles to the 
south, near the head-waters of the Cachapoal River, some 
miles off from the southern railroad. These springs have large 
bathing establishments. That at Cauquenes Springs will 
favorably compare with like establishments in Europe and 
the United States, and is visited by nearly every foreigner 
who comes to Chile. But the baths which enjoy the greatest 
reputation for their medicinal properties are the Hot Sulphur 
Springs of Chilian, situated at the foot of Mt. Chilian, 
already mentioned. On account of the snows, they are acces- 
sible only in the summer months, but give promise of being 
visited quite as much as the Cauquenes Baths. The hotel 
accommodations are sufficient for a couple of hundred guests. 
Still farther south, in the Indian territory, are other springs 
resorted to by the Indians themselves. 



12 



RIVERS. 



The rivers of Chile are counted by the hundred, but those 
to the north of the Aconcogua scarcely merit the name, except 
for the abundance of auriferous sands along their course, and 
the fertility of their alluvial deposits, which are irrigated from 
their waters and sustain the populations that inhabit their nar- 
row valleys. The chief rivers of the northern zone are the 
Copiapo, watering the valley and city of the same name ; the 
Huasco, the Coquimbo, on which, near the sea, is the pictu- 
resque city of Serena ; the Limari, the Choapa, and the Ligua. 
In the central zone, the most noted for the fertility of the 
deposits, which, like the Nile, they bring down from the 
mountains to renew the soil, are the Maipo, the Cachapoal, 
the Tingueririca, and the Teno. 

From the Maule south the larger rivers are navigable, but 
only for small vessels, on account of the rapidity of the cur- 
rents and the sand-bars closing their mouths. The Maule is navi- 
gable to Perales ; the Bio-Bio, to Concepcion ; the Valdivia, to 
ValdiviaCity, at whose wharves the ocean steamers call ; and the 
Bueno to Osorno in the neighborhood of the lakes. In Janu- 
ary, 1882, four steamers began to ply as far up as this industri- 
ous and prosperous town. All the rivers have their course 
from east to west, except the Loncomilla, which runs north- 
ward, and after receiving the waters of several tributaries 
disembogues itself in the Maule. The Mapocho, after pass- 
ing the city of Santiago, entirely disappears in the sands, and 
six miles farther to the west reappears with its waters aug- 
mented, and thence flows on a true river, and joins the Maipo 
at San Francisco del Monte. The Bio-Bio has the purest 
waters, holding in solution scarcely a vestige of organic 
material. The Maipo is the most rapid, and carries the 
greatest amount of sediment. The following table will give 
the locality and length of the principal rivers : 



Names of River. 


Province. 


Miles. 


Bio-Bio, 


Concepcion, 


222 


Aconcagua, 


Aconcagua, 


I 80 


Cautin, or Imperial, 


Valdivia, 


150 


Maule, 


Maule, 


I50 


Cachapoal, 


Santiago, 


144 


Itata, 


Concepcion, 


138 


Mataquito, 


Talca, 


138 


Rapel, ' 


Colchagua, 


I20 


Bueno, 


Valdivia, 


III 


Valdivia or Callacalla, 


Valdivia, 


I02 


Coquimbo, 


Coquimbo, 


93 


Cruces, 


Valdivia, 


93 


Maipu, 


Santiago, 


90 


Copiapo, 


Atacama, 


90 


Huasco, 


Atacama, 


90 


Ligua, 


Aconcagua, 


87 


Tolten, 


Valdivia, 


*7 


Laja, 


Concepcion, 


84 


Loncotoma, 


Aconcagua, 


84 


Limari, 


Coquimbo, 


81 


Mapocho, 


Santiago, 


78 


Vergara, 


Arauco, 


7^> 


Juncal, 


Atacama, 


72 


Tabaleo, 


Arauco, 


66 



The coast waters of Chile, as also the lakes, are abundant in 
fish. Especially is this true in the vicinity of Juan Fernandez 
Island, where the quantity is prodigious. But the rivers are 
very meagre in fish except trout and pcjerreyes, a very delicious 
fish, known only in Chile. In 1866 an unsuccessful attempt 
was made to stock the rivers of Valdivia with salmon, and 
just now another attempt is now being made to stock the Bio 
Bio and the Maule. 

POPULATION. 

The population of Chile, according to the last census 
(1875), as given by Mr. Asta-Buruaga, without taking into 
account the 40,000 Indians, was 2,075,971. Classified by 
sex it is as follows : 

Men, 1,033,974 

Women, 1,041,997 



14 



By civil state as follows : 












Males.- 


Females.* 


Unmarried, 




725>389 


690,469 


Married, 




278,013 


276,948 


Widowers, 




30,572 




Widows, 


• 




74,58o 


By grade of instruction 


as/ollows : 










Males* 


Females.* 


Able to read, 




270,908 


206,413 


" " " and write, 




244,985 


176,162 


Not able to read or write, 




518,081 


659,422 


By nationalities as follows : 








Males. 


Females. 


Total. 


Germans, .... 


3J43 


i,535 


4,678 


Argentines, 


4,560 


2,623 


7,183 


Spaniards, .... 


1,102 


121 


1,223 


French, .... 


2,408 


906 


3,3H 


English, . . ■ . 


3,459 


808 


4,267 


Italians, .... 


i,725 


259 


1,984 


North Americans, 


821 


no 


93 1 


Peruvians, 


470 


361 


831 


From other South American 








countries, 


470 


209 


679 


From other European coun- 








tries, .... 


1,211 


199 


1,410 


From Asiatic countries, 


132 


4 


136 


Total foreign born, 


19,500 


7.135 


26,635 


" native born, . 


1,014,474 


1,034,862 


2,049,336 


Grand total, . . 


1.033,974 


1,041,997 


2,075,971 



In addition to the above the respective registers of births 
and deaths up to December 31, 1878, gave a surplus of 79,058, 
making the total 2,155,029. The registers for 1879 were as 

follows : 

Male. Female. Total. 

Births, . . , .45.318 44,195 89,513 

Deaths, . . . 30,861 30,247 61,108 



Livins 



14457 



13.948 



28,405 



Children included. 



is 



Which would make the population January I, 1880, 
2,183,434. The following table, by the same author, gives the 
population on that date, distributed by provinces and classi- 
fied by sex : 



Provinces and 


Population January i, 


1880. 




Sexes. 




Territories. 


Square 
Miles. 






Total. 






Male. 1 


Female. 





Territory of Magel- 








lan from Lat. 47 ° 










to Cape Horn, 


57,76i 


746, 


505 


1,251 


Chiloe Islands and 










continent to Lat. 










47.... ■ • • 


38,507 


34,34i 


35,482 


69,823 


Llanquihue, . 


7,810 


27,718 


25,782 


53,5oo 


Valdivia, . . 


7,521 


17,669 


16,689 


34,358 


Arauco, .... 


8,085 


29,550 


26,469 


56,010 


Territory of Angol, 


2,117 


12,084 


10,484 


22,568 


Bio-Bio, .... 


4,146 


41,808 


38,807 


80,617 


Concepcion, 


3,382 


82,782 


84,079 


166,861 


Nuble, .... 


3,362 


67,380 


67,459 


134,847 


Maule, .... 


2,771 


60,576 


63,512 


124,088 


Linares, .... 


3,298 


65,738 


63,397 


129,135 


Talca, .... 


3.477 


56,089 


57,5i6 


113,605 


Curico, .... 


2,754 


50,635 


53,oio 


103,645 


Colchagua, . 


3,588 


74,927 


77,700 


152,627 


! Santiago, .... 


7,323 


188,574 


198,537 


387,081 


1 Valparaiso, . . . 


1,504 


90,138 


89,949 


* 180,087 


i Aconcagua, . 


5,886 


65,230 


68,698 


133,928 


* Coquimbo, . . 


12,307 


81,315 


83,250 


164,565 


! Atacama, .... 
Total, . . . 


48,409 


42,122 


32,709 


74,83i 


224,008 


1 ,089,400 1 


.094,034 


2,183,434 



The annual increase of population being about 20,000, 
the total December, 31,1881, should have been 2,223,434, 
though the actual population is probably somewhat larger. 



i6 



The total area between 24 and 44 degrees of latitude being 
129,721 square miles, the medium density is 17.26 inhabitants 
per square mile. This leaves out of the computation the dis- 
trict of Punta Arenas, in the Magellan Straits. Allowance- 
should be made, however, for the losses in the recent war, and 
the absence from home of more than twenty thousand 
men. To supply this deficiency the government has appro- 
priated the sum of $200,000 annually, to encourage foreign 
immigration. A like attempt, some years earlier, proved very 
fortunate in the German colonies of Valdivia, Llanquihue and 
Osorno, but so far no practical results have come from the 
present attempt. 

According to a statement prepared from the census of 
1875, for the Philadelphia, Exposition of 1876, by Mr. M. G. 
Carmona, the population of Chile is distributed as follows : 

In cities and towns, 713,167 ; in rural districts, 1,355,257. 
There are 41 cities, 7S corporate towns, 186 villages, 83 ham- 
lets and 35 ports. There are 17 provinces, 60 departments, 
682 sub-delegations, and 2,738 districts, not counting the colo- 
nies of Angol and Magellan. The following are the most 
populous provinces, departments and cities : 



Provinces. 


Inhabit's. 

362,712 
176,682 
157,463 
151-365 
146,889 
136,880 
132,799 


Departm'ts. 


Inhabit's. 


Cities. 


Inhabit's. 


Santiago 

Valparaiso 

Coquinibo 

Concepcion 

Colchagua 

Nuble ' 

Aconcagua 


Santiago 

Valparaiso 

Rancagua 

Chilian 

Talca 

Caupolican 

SanFern'ndo 


193-517 

100,926 

97,126 

95,941 
90,588 
74,102 
72,787 


Santiago 

Valparaiso 

Chilian 

Concepcion 

Talca 

Serena 

Copiapo 


148,284 

77,575 
19,044 

18,277 
17,452 
12,265 
11.484 



The following are the populations of the principal cities of 
the Republic, according to the best calculations : Santiago, the 
capital, on the banks of the Mapocho, 180,000; Valparaiso, the 
principal port, 1 1 0,000 ; Talca, 21,000; Concepcion, 20,000; 
Serena, 14,000 ; Copiapo, 1 2,000 ; Iquique, 9,000 ; Antofogasta, 
7,000. Two-thirds of the people live in the rural districts, and 
for this reason the nation is sometimes spoken of as El huaso 
Chile: that is, " A pastoral country." The newly acquired 



territories are estimated to have something over 60,000 inhab- 
itants, as follows: Antofogasta (Bolivian and foreign), 19,500; 
Tarapaca (Peruvian and foreign), 42,000. 

The following table from the last census, for the year 
1875, gives statistics of other conditions of the population. 









to 

O ri 




|ft 







Births 












a 




C*3 




c ~ 


V 


6 




Provinces. 


.2 


«> 


.2 a 

Z 
£: ft 


s 


.2 w A 
b M.2 


B 








"3 


■5 


" 
ft 




2 « 5 


s 




*c3 




ft 


rt 


•" 


c3 


O kpH 


'So 


'Sa 









V 






V 









Ph 


Q 


£ 


£ 


£ 


hI 


3 


H 


Magellan Colony, 


i,i44 


62 


1 in 18 


20 


1 in 57 


47 


14 


61 


Chiloe, 


64,536 


i,i34 


1 ' 


57 


496 


1 " 130 


2,162 


418 


2,580 


Llanquihue, 


48,492 


9 .6 


1 ' 


53 


415 


r " 117 


i,577 


367 


J ,944 


Valdivia, 


37,48i 


618 


1 ' 


61 


239 


1 " 157 


i,i34 


482 


1,61 b 


Arauco, 


140,896 


3,o99 


1 ' 


45 


916 


1 " 154 


4,i3 T 


2,133 


6,264 


Concepcion, 


151,365 


3,98i 


1 ' 


38 


1,564 


1" 96 


5,288 


2,704 


7,992 


Nuble, 


136,880 


3,868 


1 ' 


35 


1,172 


1 107 


4,3o6 


1,572 


5,878 


Maule, 


237,314 


6,257 


1 ' 


38 


1,622 


1 " 145 


7,480 


3,000 


10,480 


Talca, 


1 10, 359 


3,588 


1 ' 


3i 


1,016 


1 " 109 


4,543 


993 


5,5?6 


Curico, 


92,110 


2,312 


1 ' 


40 


7^3 


1 " 125 


3, 2 8i 


585 


3,866 


Colchagua, 


146,889 


3,944 


1 ' 


37 


i,343 


1 " 109 


6,034 


1,054 


7,088 


Santiago, 


362,712 


11,188 


1 ' 


32 


1,603 


1 " IOI 


14,087 


2,661 


16,748 


Valpaiaiso, 


176,682 


6,504 


1 ' 


27 


1,428 


1 " 124 


6,286 


1,668 


7-954 I 


Aconcagua, 
Coquimbo, 


132,799 


3,322 


1 ' 


40 


766 


1 " 173 


3,379 


1,272 


4,651 ! 


157,463 


3,662 


1 "43 


979 


1 ' 161 


3,588 


1,768 


5,357 


Atacama, 

Total, 


71,302 


4,442 


1 '■ 16 


338 


1 " 211 


T,293 


1,064 


2,359 


2,068,424 


55,897 


1 in 37 


16,670 


1 in 124 


68,616 


21,755 


90,371 



PUBLIC HEALTH. 

The sanitary conditions of a country that is bathed con- 
tinually in its whole extent by ocean breezes, and which inter- 
poses high mountain barriers to contagions from other countries, 
and more than this, occupying the temperate, the healthiest of 
zones, and having abundant means of support and all natural 
resources of hygiene in country and city, cannot be other than 
the most healthful. The natural indolence of a large part of 
the people, the extreme poverty of the masses, the classes being 
as distinct as in England, and the lack of local precautions,, 
neutralize to a great extent these natural blessings. The great 
mortality of nursing children and from the prevalence of 
small-pox give evidence of this. In Chile only the strongest 
constitutions attain to manhood and old age, hence there is a 
notable absence of invalids ; and the extraordinary vigor and 
strength of her laborers, soldiers, and sailors, Lord Cochrane 
compared with the best of the world. The following table 



18 

gives the mortality in the hospitals of the Republic in 1878, 
and affords an approximate idea of the diseases most prevalent 
among the people, omitting the two already mentioned : 





Men. 


Women. 


Total. 


Consumption, 


1.377 


1,047 


2,424 


Rheumatism, 


429 




429 


Dysentery, 


396 


366 


772 


Fevers, 


263 


322 


585 


Heart Disease, 


168 


161 


329 


Pneumonia, 


153 


206 


359 


Diphtheria, 


H3 


310 


453 


Congestion of the Lungs, 


108 




108 


Syphilis, 


66 


85 


151 



Small-pox, which, during the colonial days, destroyed 
annually a tenth part of the mixed races, and raged among the 
aborigines, has been on the increase since 1864. In 1872 it 
was very bad, and since then the number of deaths annually 
resulting from this disease is counted by the thousand. 
Most of the deaths are among the lower classes, or those who 
have not been vaccinated. As already stated, on account of 
false notions of individual liberty the bill for obligatory vacci- 
nation was rejected, a few months since, by the lower house of 
Congress. In the year already mentioned, the deaths by 
months were as follows: January, 5,333 ; February, 4,398; 
March, 4,228; April, 3,937; May, 4,423 ; June, 4,215; July, 
4,613; August, 4,773; September, 4,767; October, 4,940; 
November, 4,749; December, 5,523. The largest number 
occurred in December, being 9.9 per cent. ; and the smallest 
number in April, being 7.1 per cent. 

RACES. 

Chile, in distinction from Peru, Bolivia, and almost all the 
the other South American countries, has had the inestimable 
benefit of having a homogeneous and almost single race. 
Neither the African, the Sandwich Islander, nor the China- 
man, has ever become acclimated here. The climate is per- 
haps too cold for his warm nature. The stray specimens have 
soon disappeared, or retired to the seaboard. The population 
is composed of two classes : the white race of pure Spanish 



19 

blood, or a mixture of this and other European races, and the 
Creole or native mixed race, having a third to a fourth of 
Spanish blood. In the three and a half centuries this has 
thoroughly permeated and altered the primitive and indige- 
nous population. From this alliance of the Spaniards with the 
Araucanians or Chilean Indians, known under thirty or forty 
tribal names, from the Changos of Atacama, as to the Cnicos 
of Osorno, have come the two million inhabitants who, to-day, 
under the name of horsemen (huasos) in the country, and rag- 
ged men {rotos) in the towns and cities, constitute the power, 
the productive wealth, the energy, and the conquering armies 
of this country. 

With regard to the indigenous race, it may be said that it 
has entirely disappeared north of the Bio-Bio River. At the 
beginning of the century a few tribes, with only a few thousand 
members, remained in the provinces of the north and centre. 
It is only in the remote parts of the valleys of the Huasco 
and Elqui rivers that the ethnologist is able to find any fami- 
lies, or even individuals, of the aborigines who inhabited the 
valleys of this country, and had their nationalities and confed- 
erations when the Spaniards arrived. The Araucanians, 
properly so called, are divided into three tribes or comprehen- 
sive families, namely, the Pehuenches, who inhabit the valleys 
of the Andes and their pine groves (fte/men); the Llanistas, 
who live in the central valleys or plains [llanos], and are the 
most warlike ; and the Costinos, who have their residence in 
the Cordilleras of the coast and the transverse valleys. These 
last have nearly all submitted to government supervision. 

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION. 

The Republic is divided into seventeen provinces, exclu- 
sive of Araucania, whose political and military capital is Angol ; 
and the colony of Punta Arenas, situated on the Straits of 
Magellan. Most of these provinces are separated from each 
other by rivers or mountain chains, and nearly all extend from 
the summit of the Andes to the coast, each one being divided 
into two, three,- or four, or even as many as six departments. 
Coquimbo has six ; Valdivia and Llanquihue only two ; San- 



20 

tiago, the most densely populated province, has five, and Val- 
paraiso four. There is at present a project before Congress 
to set off the department of Rancagua from the province of 
Santiago and make it a province, and also to re-divide Talca 
Province, and give it a new department on the coast. The 
departments are again divided into sub-delegations or town- 
ships, which are very numerous, there being in all nearly four 
hundred. These divisions correspond to the cantons in France 
as the departments correspond to the counties in England and 
the United States. The sub-delegations are again divided into 
districts, the smallest political divisions in the Republic. 

GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION. 

Notwithstanding its federal system, this Republic is 
intensely unified. This national cohesion is attributable in part 
to the nature of the territory. The political constitution of 
Chile resembles that of the United States, whose governmental 
organization was taken as a model by the legislators of South 
America. There are four entirely distinct powers of govern- 
ment : the executive, invested in a president ; the legislative, 
invested in a National Congress composed of an upper and a 
lower house ; the judicial, invested in the various judges of 
the courts ; and the municipal. 

The president is elected every five years by the people, 
and since 1871 is not eligible to re-election except after an 
interval of one term. He has five ministers or secretaries, 
and is supported by a Council of State composed of eleven 
members, five of whom are named by the President himself 
under certain regulations, and the other six are elected by 
Congress. They hold office for three years. The salary of 
the President is $18,000 a year. He has also the privilege of 
residing in the Treasury Building. The salary of the minis- 
ters is $6,000 a year. The members of the Council of State 
give their services gratuitously, and are of little consequence, 
because of the excessive power given to the President. The 
provinces are governed by intendentes named by the President, 
and removed at his will. Their salary is $4,000 a year with 
residence. The departments are presided over by Governors 



21 

named in the same way. There are three classes, according 
to the salary, which varies from $1,000 to $2,500. The sub- 
delegations are presided over by sub-delegates appointed by 
the governors, and the districts by inspectors appointed by the 
sub-delegates. These last two offices are without salary, and 
hence do not greatly benefit the country. 

The National Congress is composed of two houses, and 
its members are elected every three years. The Senate has 
thirty-seven members elected by the provinces, and the House 
of Deputies one hundred and eight members elected by the 
departments. They give their services gratis, and since 1876 
the Deputies are elected by the system of cumulative votes 
devised by John Stuart Mill. The judicial power is vested in 
the Supreme Court, composed of six members, resident in 
Santiago, who do not have any political functions. On the 
contrary, in 1881 a law was passed establishing the incompati- 
bility of the judicial and legislative functions. The Supreme 
Court is occupied chiefly with cases of real estate, war claims, 
and criminal cases. Ordinary cases are tried before justices of 
the peace (one in each department). There are also four courts 
of appeal, sitting in Serena, Santiago (2), and Concepcion. In 
Santiago and other thickly populated departments, there are 
two, four, or even six, justices of the peace, civil and criminal, 
Minor cases are very arbitrarily tried by sub-delegate justices, 
who certainly are no benefit to the country. 

Chile is fortunate in possessing an excellent codification 
of her laws. The civil code was promulgated in 1858, and 
the commercial code, penal code, code of mines, code of 
organization of tribunals, etc., followed in order. The civil 
code is taken largely from the code of Napoleon, and the 
military code from the ordinances of Spain. The Republic 
needs a naval code, but for the present the naval ordinances of 
the mother country serve well. 

The municipal authority is vested in city councils elected 
every three years by the people, but their authority is so small 
that they cannot appropriate more than a hundred dollars of 
their incomes without the consent of the president of the 
country. The receipts of the municipalities from licenses, 



22 

public lighting, and police taxes, and all other sources, were, in 
1878, $4,500,404, and the expenses as follows : 

Street cleaning and sanitary measures, $416,515.69 

Police, 741,428.99 

Public works, 81,350.52 

Public schools, 66,847.54 

Benevolent institutions and prisons, 182,147.73 

City government, 294,892.89 

Interest and reduction of city debts, 2 >555>5 I 3-35 

Extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses, 164,709.63 

Recently (1882) a rural police has been organized through- 
out the Republic, sustained by a small property tax. This 
important service, just now being tried, is in charge of a com- 
mission of land owners and contributors. 

RELIGIOUS ADMINISTRATION. 

In Chile there does not exist a separation of Church and 
State. The religion of the country is Roman Catholic, but 
Protestantism is tolerated, and in Valparaiso and Santiago there 
are Protestant congregations having chapels and supporting 
their own pastors. The State Church has one archbishop, 
nominated by the President and confirmed by the Pope. The 
archbishop resides at Santiago, and the bishops have their dio- 
ceses at Serena, Concepcion, and Chiloe. The State assists to 
maintain the Church in return for the tithes of the fruits of the 
land, which formerly it enjoyed, but of which it has been 
deprived. The archbishop and bishops receive salaries of 
$6,000 a year, and it is calculated the other revenues of the 
Church amounted, in 1 881, to $237,030. The tithes appro- 
priated by the State, since 1850, amount to five times this 
amount. At present, in consequence of disputes regarding the 
naming of bishops and archbishop, there is a strong feeling 
in favor of the separation of Church and State, in accordance 
with the principles of Cavour and the system in practice in the 
United States. The clergy of Chile are educated and moral, 
but insufficient, although there exists a fine theological semi-' 



23 

nary in Santiago, and five others at Valparaiso, Serena, Con- 
cepcion and Ancud. The whole number of native priests is 
not over four hundred, hence many come from Spain and Italy, 
and lend their services as curates and vice-curates. The 
number of students in the diocesan seminaries, in 1 88 1 , was 
as follows : 

Seminary in Ancud, 32 

Concepcion, 118 

Santiago, 488 

" Serena, 87 



Total, 725 

PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Public education in Chile is comparatively meagre, but in 
its higher courses is as thorough and finished as any in Europe. 
Unfortunately, however, the school system does not adequately 
provide for the practical and vital exigencies of the country. 
It has scarcely recovered from its Spanish origin, and possesses 
a strong French tendency, which has influenced its literature, 
tastes and industry. Fortunately the excess of evil has pro- 
duced a reaction, and the youth are changing from a prefer- 
ence to the law which threatened to overrun the country to 
the more practical professions, as medicine, agriculture, civil 
and mining engineering, mechanics, etc. 

Public education, as in France, is divided into three grades, 
superior, intermediate and primary. Santiago is the seat of 
the National University, which has five faculties and a council 
of higher public education, which superintends the higher 
and intermediate schools of the country. These schools are 
free, and have their own buildings, apparatus, etc. The 
principal one is in Santiago, founded in 18 13, and called 
the National Institute. In the provinces these schools take 
the name of liceos or high schools. The University pre- 
paratory course in the National Institute in 1880 had 843 
students, distributed as follows : — 



24 

Physical Science and Mathematics, . ' . . . 34 
Medicine, . . . . . . . 263 

Law (nearly one-half), . . . . . . .389 

Pharmacy, . 86 

Fine Arts (Drawing, Painting and Sculpture), . . 71 

At the examinations in March, 1881, the following num- 
ber were approved : 

Science and Mathematics, ..... 231 

Medicine and Pharmacy, . . . . 874 

Law, . . . . . . . . 975 

In the intermediate course in the Institute there were 918 
students enrolled, 128 being boarders and 790 day scholars. 
The high schools in the provinces made the following showing 
for the same year : 

Copiapo, 

Serena, .... 

San Felipe, 

Valparaiso, 

Rancagua, 

San. Fernando, 

Curico, 

Talca, .... 

Linares, 

Cauquenes, 

Chilian, 

Concepcion, 

Los Angeles, 

Lebu, . 

Valdivia, 

Puerto Montt, 

Ancud, ... 

2,176 

The intermediate and superior school instruction, under 
the maintenance of the State, has increased to nearly four 



Students. 


Examinations. 


181 


443 


220 


560 


229 


249 


286 




100 


121 


35 




IOI 


196 


230 


448 


64 


6 7 


76 


113 


146 


361 


160 


530 


78 . 


100 


60 




46 


204 


5i 


102 


93 





25 

thousand students ; but this is certainly much less than the 
intellectual progress of the country demands. These ar 
distributed as follows : 

Superior course in the Institute, 843 

Intermediate course in the Institute, 918 

Intermediate course in the Provinces, 2,176 



Total, 3,937 

Fortunately, there exist in the capital special schools for 
teachers, agriculture, and manual trades. There is also a 
military academy, an academy of painting, a conservatory of 
music, and in Valparaiso a naval academy, in all of which the 
number of students maintained by the State is about five thou- 
sand, including the theological seminaries. In the private 
schools there are, perhaps, as many more. 

Primary instruction, which some time back received con- 
siderable attention, especially under the energetic administration 
of President Montt (1851-61), is now somewhat neglected 
by the State. Benevolent societies supply, in part, this defi- 
ciency. The whole number of scholars in all the schools of 
the Republic in 1 88 1 amounted to from sixty to sixty-five 
thousand. The free public schools in operation in 1880-81 
were as follows : 

City schools, for boys, 114 

" " " girls, 141 

255 

Country schools, for boys, 101 
" girls, 264 

— 365 

620 

Established in 188 1, 18 

Total, 638 

The number of children enrolled in all the public schools 
in 1880 was 48,794, — 24,961 boys and 23,833 girls. The 
average attendance was 34,089. To this must be added the 
private and society schools, which numbered 405, with 15,106 



26 

scholars, — 9,218 boys and 5,888 girls. The total number of 
public and private schools open this year was 1,043, with an 
average enrollment of 64 scholars. 

The public school expenses, in all grades, were the 
following : 

National Institute, University Preparatory, $56,841 

" " Intermediate, 116,784 

Provincial high schools, 208,777 

Normal schools, , 43,872 

Primary " 3^5,377 

Publication of text-books, 30,000 

Administration, premiums, etc., 106,195 



Total, $947,846 

The total appropriation made by Congress for school 
purposes in 1881 was $1,119,620, and in 1882, $1,386,022. 
In Santiago is the National Library, with more than sixty thou- 
sand volumes. Just now it is being removed to a new edifice, 
and arranged according to the latest system. The University, 
Institute, and many private schools, as well as the provincial 
high schools, have excellent libraries also. In Santiago and 
Valparaiso there are museums of natural history; in Serena 
and Copiapo, museums of mineralogy ; and a taste for the fine 
arts may be cultivated in the many private galleries of paintings, 
some of which are valued as high as twenty, forty, fifty, and 
even a hundred thousand dollars. In Santiago there are fifteen 
public statues, mostly of the great men of the revolution, as 
O'Higgins, Carrera, San Martin, Freire, Bello, etc. Valpa- 
raiso has erected monuments to Lord Cochrane and William 
Wheelwright, the introducer of steam navigation ; and others 
of Admiral Blanco, Encalada, and the hero of Iquique, Arturo 
Prat, are being erected. 

THE PRESS. 

Printing was introduced in 181 2, with a little screw-press 
brought from the United States, still preserved as a relic in the 
National Museum. Great advances have been made of late, 



27 

especially under the liberal governments, which have granted 
the widest liberty to the press. In 1853 there was in Santiago 
only one daily, the Mensajero, and the Araucano, — the official 
organ. In 1855 the FerrocarrilwdiS founded, and to-day it has 
a circulation of eight thousand to nine thousand copies, its 
profits being from twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars. In 
the last ten years there have been founded in nearly all the 
capitals of the provinces or departments, dailies and other peri- 
odicals ; and some of the larger cities, as Iquique, Copiapo, 
and Serena, have as many as three dailies. In Valparaiso 
there are two large dailies : the Mer curio, the oldest, founded 
in 1827. This has the largest circulation. It prints from 
eleven to twelve thousand copies daily, and yields a net income 
of nearly forty thousand dollars. There is also an English 
weekly, The Chilian Times, and a German weekly. The dailies 
of Santiago are the Ferrocarril, the Independinte, the Estan- 
darte Catolico, and the Epoca. The Araucano, the organ of 
the government, was converted into the Diario Oficial in 1877. 

BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS. 

The Chileans have ever been noted for their charitable 
and hospitable spirit. Pedro Valdivia founded in Santiago 
the first hospital. In all the larger cities there are now hos- 
pitals under the care of the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. 
These are aided by the State, and have also revenues of their 
own, from legacies, gifts, etc. In Santiago there are orphan, 
widow, blind, invalid, and lunatic asylums; the last having five 
hundred inmates. In 1873 there were treated in the hospitals 
and dispensaries of the Republic, 296,879 cases. All the 
cities have cemeteries; those of Santiago and Valparaiso rival- 
ing in beauty and elegance the most magnificent of Europe. 
The hospitals are mostly under the charge of the Sisters of 
St. Vincent de Paul, who have their central convent in Santi- 
ago. The orphan and widow asylums are generally in charge 
of the Sisters of the Providencia, from Canada. Since 1853 
they have founded six convents in Santiago, Valparaiso, 
Limache, Serena, and Conccpcion, and have sheltered thou- 
sands of unfortunates. In the epochs of epidemics these holy 



28 

women have been most devoted, and during the late war many 
of them have labored in the army hospitals. 

THE ARMY. 

The regular army of the Republic, which never in times 
of peace exceeded 3,500 men, was reduced, at the beginning of 
the late war (1878), to the number of 2,700. Since the war 
began, no less than 60,000 have been enlisted. At present 
there are 22,000 men in the field, as follows : 

In Lima and Northern Peru, '. . . 15,000 

In Cacna and Tarapaca, .... 3,000 
On the Araucanian frontier, . . . 4,000 

According to the register of 188 1, the regular army was 
composed of 12,436 men, as follows: 

10 Battalions of Infantry, with 9,040 men. 
3 Regiments of Cavalry, " 1,296 " 
2 " " Artillery, " 2,100 " 

The National Guards, liable to be called into active ser- 
vice, in 1850 numbered 75,000 men, and might now number 
100,000, but for economical reasons really only numbers 
20,400. The Cavalry Militia was organized in 1876. The 
army was commanded in 188 1 by 10 generals, 21 colonels, 
yy lieutenant-colonels, 103 sergeant-majors, 191 captains, 181 
lieutenants, 332 sub-lieutenants ; total, 915 — an increase over 
1880 of 226 officers. At present the number is still greater. 
Including the arms and cannon recovered in the war from Peru, 
Chile possesses now more than 500 cannon, some of them of 
large caliber (1,000 pounds), and a 100,000 stand of arms. All 
her forts are well fortified, Valparaiso especially, since 1866-69. 

NAVY. 

The Chilean navy, which has attained equal renown with 
the army in the last war, has, besides two powerful war ves- 
sels being constructed in England, the Artura Prat and the 
Esmerelda, the following : 

2 iron-clads — Blanco, Encalado and Almirante Cochrane. 

I monitor — Huascar. 



2 9 

2 corvettes — O ' Higgins and Chacabuco. 
2 cruisers — Magallanes and Pilcomayo. 
4 steam transports — Amazonas, Angamos, Abtao and 
Chile. 

2 frigates (sailing). 

3 steam tugs, and various other small steamers. 

1 1 torpedo boats, recently purchased, of a speed of 
twenty-two miles an hour. 

The navy has 1,200 effective seamen, including the fol- 
lowing officers : 

1 vice-admiral. 

4 rear-admirals. 
1 1 captains of iron-clads. 
10 captains of frigates. 
22 captains of corvettes. 
25 first lieutenants. 
22 second lieutenants. 

3 midshipmen. 
39 not examined (aspir antes). 

114 adjutants. 

The Pacific coast of South America is favorable to naviga- 
tion between Valparaiso and Guayaquil. Still magnetic 
variations little understood have occasioned many shipwrecks. 
The English Company has lost not less than twenty vessels 
since its beginning, in 1842; and Chile has recently (October 
1 88 1, and August, 1882) seen two of her transports, the 
Payta and the Pisagua, go down in Surco and Talaverry. 

MERCANTILE MARINE. 

The merchant marine of the Republic had been on the 
increase since the war with Spain in 1866. In 1879 it was 
composed of one hundred and six sailing vessels and thirty 
steamers. During the first year of the war there was a large 
decrease, but since then there has been a gradual increase, 
The coast trade has developed, and some of the Chilean vessels 



have even been called into the foreign carrying trade. The 
number of vessels Mav, 1880 and 1881, was as follows : 



j ' 



1880. 12 Steamers, 6 Tugs, 13 Barks, 2 Brigs, 4 Schooners, 12 Pilot Boats 

1881. 12 Steamers, 6 Tugs, 2 Ships, 31 Barks, 3 Brigs, 5 Schooners 15. 

Pilot Boats. 

There are five steamship companies doing business on the 
coast, one of them, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, of 
England, having one of the largest fleets in the world. Its 
steamers sail bi-monthly to England, by way of the Straits of 
Magellan, and weekly to Panama. The South American Com- 
pany, of Chile, runs a line of steamers as far north as Panama 
and as far south as Chiloe. The German Line, of Hamburg, 
runs to that port, and the French line, of Havre, to that port. 
The Lota Company employs several steamers in the coal and 
copper trade. The tug company of Valparaiso employs five 
or six small tug boats. The Spanish line belonging to the 
Marquis of Campo has just been inaugurated (September, 
1882). All these companies represent a fleet of more than 
a hundred vessels, the United States not possessing a single 
one of them all. There is a Chilean Whaling Company, and 
several small fishing establishments. The most important one 
is ably managed by a Chilean seaman at Tumbes, near Talca- 
huano. Valparaiso Bay has two floating docks which serve 
for war vessels, steamers, and merchant vessels. At Talca- 
huano, the government is constructing new docks for the use 
of her ironclads, and expending several millions on them. In 
most of the ports are fixed or revolving light-houses, and in 
Santiago, there is a weather bureau which is of great service 
to navigation in general. 

DIPLOMATIC SERVICE. 

From the foundation to the late war Chile was very 
meagre in her diplomatic service, having only four foreign 
ministers, — one in Europe, one in the United States, and others 
in Peru and Bolivia; but now she has no less than twelve 
plenipotentiaries accredited to France, England, Germany, 
United States, Mexico, Central America, Columbia, Brazil, 



3i 

Argentine Republic, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Peru. Her con- 
sular system is sufficiently extensive, but miserably remuner- 
ated. All the nations enumerated above have representatives 
resident in Chile. Spain and Russia have never yet acknowl- 
edged the independence of the republics formerly Spanish 
colonies. The difficulties with Spain, growing out of the war 
of 1865-66, are about to be adjusted. At the present moment 
a war vessel from that country is on its way for that purpose, 
and to re-establish commercial relations between the two 
countries. The diplomatic and consular service of the Repub- 
lic in 1 88 1 cost $102,105. To-day the cost is nearly double 
that, and if account be made for the difference of exchange, it 
will be treble that amount. 

PUBLIC WORKS. 

Chile has in operation 1,102 miles of railroad, and sur- 
veys are being made for the speedy construction of as much 
more ; one line being intended to extend the central line, 
which runs from Valparaiso and Santiago to Angol, as far as 
Valdivia, thus traversing the territory of Araucania. This 
will do more to civilize the Indians than all the armies. 

To Chile belongs the honor of constructing (1850) the 
first railroad in South America, that from Caldera to Copiapo. 
Her different railroads and highways are given in the follow- 
ing tables. Railroads belonging to the State. The railroad 
between Santiago and Valparaiso, with its branch from Las 
Vegas to Santa Rosa, in the Andes, is 144 miles long. The 
southern road, from Santiago to Talcahuano, is 359 miles, 
and to Angol 352 miles. The entire length, including the 
branch to Palmilla, is 446 miles. Total owned by the State, 
590 miles. Railroads belonging to companies, excluding those 
of Tarapaca : — 

Line from Mejillones to Cerro Gordo, 16 miles. 

" " Antofogasta to Salinas de Dorado, 79 
" Taltal to the saltpetre mines of Cachiyu- 

yal, 60 

Chanaral to Hundido, 55 



32 

Line from Caldera to Copiapo, with branches to 

Puquios, San Antonio, and Chanarcillo, 101 miles. 
" " Carrizal to Upper Carrizal and Cerro 

Blanco, 74 " 

" " Coquimbo to Serena, Tamaya and Ovalle, 62 " 

" " Tongoy to Tamaya, 40 " 

" " Laraquete to Quilanchanquin, 25 " 

Total, 513 miles. 

The State lines had cost for construction up to 1880 nearly 
$40,000,000, obtained for the most part from British loans in 
this form : — 

The line from Santiago to Valparaiso, $12,925,334 

the south, 26,028,575 

During 1880 these roads transported 1,362,989 passengers 
and 569,385 tons of cargo. The receipts were $2,142,985. 

There are in operation in Chile 1,102 miles, besides the 
short lines used in the coal mines of Coronel, Lota, Lebu, and 
Punta Arenas. At Santiago and Valparaiso, and from 
Old San Antonio to the mouth of the Maipo, there are street 
railways, with a total length of 35 miles. In addition to these 
there are over 700 public roads, kept in repair at government 
expense, with a total length of 18,600 miles. There are also 
1,600 mule paths, with a total length of 17,000 miles. These 
are kept in repair by the municipalities, or private individuals, 
or companies. There are, also, 78 navigable streams, with a 
total navigable extent of 2,800 miles. 

MAILS AND TELEGRAPHS. 

The number of post-offices in 1880 was 335, and during 
that year they handled 19,675,500 letters, papers, and pack- 
ages. The department has also a postal money-order system. 

The government owns a system of electric telegraph lines. 
In the year just mentioned there were 102 offices with 178 
instruments. The total length of wire, including some tempo- 
rary lines used in the military operations at the north, was 
5,700 miles. A new line has since been constructed to 
Ancud, giving twelve additional offices and 473 miles. The 



33 



number of telegrams transmitted was 258,684, containing 
5,990,525 words. There is a private line between Santiago 
and Valparaiso — the American line — and another between 
these two cities and Buenos Ayres, opened in 1872 and con- 
necting with Europe. Altogether Chile has in operation more 
than 6,200 miles of wire. There is at present a bill before 
Congress to appropriate $400,000 to double these lines. 
Tacna and Ancud, the two extremes of these lines, are nearly 
2,000 miles apart. There is a marine cable to Callao, and it 
has been completed to Panama, thus connecting with Mexico 
and the United States. 

COMMERCE. 

The commerce of the Republic is prosperous, and this 
country, by reason of its agricultural products for export and 
its extraordinary mineral riches, is one of the great markets 
of the world, although so small. The two following tables 
prepared by the Bureau of Statistics in 1882, relating to the 
commercial transactions of the Republic give the details : 

Importation. — The importation of foreign goods to Chile 
in 1880 amounted to $29,716,004, as follows : 
Articles of food, .... $6,123,467 

Textile fabrics, .... 8,319,791 

Raw materials, ..... 3,699,458 

Clothing and jewelry, . . . 1,926,843 

Machines, instruments and hardware, . . 2,825,601 

Household furniture, . . . 1,459,589 

Railroad and telegraph materials, . . 531,154 

Wines and liquors, .... 559>735 

Tobacco, ..... 870,160 

Gold, silver and copper metals, . . ! 9>336 

Scientific instruments, art treasures, etc., . 373-38° 

Drugs, medicines, etc., . . . 304,200 

Fire-arms and ammunition, . . . 37,342 

Miscellaneous, .... 2,636,521 

Silver bullion, ..... \^,\^2 

Gold bullion, .... 16,275 



Total, 



$29,716,004 



34 

England is the largest importer, Germany and France 
come next, while the United States holds the fourth place. 
About the time of the independence (18 17-1830) the United 
States sent more to Chile than did Great Britain. The nations 
which have imported the largest amounts are the following : 

England, $13,398,324 

Germany, 4,785,642 

France, 4,399,035 

United States, 1,667,078 

Argentine Republic, 1,465,063 

Peru, 1,313,726 

Spain, 603,028 

Brazil, 521,657 

Belgium, 484,497 

Italy, . 295,594 

Exportation. — The articles and products which Chile 
exported, in 1880, amounted to $51,648,549, an increase over 
1879 of $8,990,710. They were as follows : 

Grain and produce, $11,663,015 

Metals, 37,811,150 

Manufactured articles, 93, T 73 

Miscellaneous, 109,093 

Gold bullion, 57,265 

Silver bullion, 1,185,867 

Imported articles, 727,058 

The agricultural products exported were : 

Wheat, 138,777,700 $7,449,902 



Flour, 


1 1,419,000 


1,003,952 


Barley, 


3,i27,5oo 


130,227 


Wool, 


2,207,100 


507,904 


Wines, 


144,312 gallons, 


122,594 


The mineral exported products were : 




Bar copper, 


$ 


[3,912,641 


Ingot copper, 




i,43i,3H 


Copper ores, 




437,215 


Stove Coal, 




404,872 






35 



The total imports and exports for this year amounted to 
195,918, the imports being $35,075,246, and the exports, 
2,120,672. 

The trade between the various ports of the Republic was : 

In 1879, $35,618,1 19 

In 1880, .... 53,558,637 



418,176 tons 
762,668 " 
326,280 " 
891,164 " 



Increase, . . . 517,940,118 

The shipping with foreign countries showed the follow 
in'g number of vessels: 

Entered — Sailing vessels, . . 689 with 

Steamers, . . 648 

Cleared — Sailing vessels, . 530 " 

Steamers, . . 734 " 

The coast trade showed in the same time : 
Entered — Sailing vessels, . . 2,240 with 772,036 tons 

Steamers, . . 2,423 " 2,067,650 " 

Cleared — Sailing vessels, . . 2,362 " 842,528 " 

Steamers, . . 2,287 " ! .924,694 " 

Including the territories of Antofogasta and Tarapaca, 
which Chile occupied the entire shipping for the year ending 
March, 1881, was as follows: 





Entered. 


Cleared. 


Number of Ports. 


Vessels., Tons. Passengers. 


Vessels. Tons. Passengeis. 


34 


6,183 2,279,212] 37,711 


6,201 4,205.337 27,356 



According to the inaugural address delivered by Presi- 
dent Santa Maria, June I, 1882, before the National Congress, 
the exports amounted in 1881 to $60,5 19,827, and the imports 
to $39,341,351. The grand total of the commerce, including 
goods in transit, was $108,585,046. The exportvalues, includ- 
ing guano and saltpetre from Tarapaca, were : Minerals, 
$47,145,757, being $9,333,667 more than 1880; agricultural 
products, $9,884,232, being $ 1,778,783 more than 1880; 
guano, $1,792,41 1 ; saltpetre, 822,891,786. The Government 



36 

has just offered in the markets of Europe the sale of a million 
tons of guano from Tarapaca and Lobao Islands, and will 
share the proceeds with the lawful creditors and bondholders 
of Peru. 

In Valparaiso the Government has very large bonded 
warehouses, which cost between three and four million dol- 
lars. They were intended to be fire-proof, but are proof 
against the fire-engine, as was recently shown by a destruc- 
tive fire in one of them. For ten years past an iron wharf 
has been in process of construction. It is now approaching 
completion, and will cost two million dollars. 

NATIONAL INDUSTRIES. 

Mr. M. G. Carmona, the able chief of the office of statis- 
tics in Valparaiso, to whom, as well as to Mr. Asta-Burnaga, so 
well known in the United States, we owe the greater part of 
the statistics of this article, said in 1876 that agriculture and 
mining are the most important industries of the country. Some 
advancement has also been made in manufacture. There are 
manufactories of cloth, silks, paper, metal amalgamation, 
castings, oil, sugar refining, carriages, furniture, wool and 
hemp goods, ceramics, pottery, candles and soap, lumber 
sawing, lime and brick, whisky, wine and beer, steam boilers, 
leather, dyeing, marble cutting, and many other industries, and 
manual arts and trades. 

Among the various agricultural and other products, we 
should mention, on account of their abundance, superior 
quality and commercial value, wheat, flour, barley, wool, hides, 
potatoes, bee honey, building lumber, hay and bran. There 
are exported also, in considerable quantities, house birds, 
salted beef, beeswax, dried beef, macaroni, beans, fruits, 
crackers, eggs, vegetables, linseed, corn, lard, butter, nuts and 
cheese. The native wines are very highly esteemed, and have 
a very large consumption in the country. This industry is 
becoming more important every day, and already sends to 
foreign countries millions of gallons annually. The following 
is a table of the principal agricultural products produced and 
exported. 



37 





Produced. 




Exported. 




Peas, 


24,749,077 p 


ounds. 


68,343 pounds. 


Corn, 


30,524,025 


« 


2,377.546 


<< 


Wheat, 


794,121,581 


u 


181,955,494 


a 


Flour, 






58,426,264 


ti 


Barley, 


273,085,105 


a 


99, 6 37,799 


it 


Wool, 


10,243,860 


(« 


3,757,518 


u 


Potatoes, 


162,055,968 


a 


22,986,816 


a 


Nuts, 


2,530,001 


a 


3,226,170 


a 


Beans, 


45 ,793, 607 


<< 


3,217,986 


" 



In mining, Chile occupies a very high position among 
the nations richest in minerals. Its territory contains very 
rich deposits, in which are found every metal known. The 
most important are copper, silver, stone coal, gold, cobalt, 
nickel, lead, and mercury. There is also marble, porphyry, 
lapis-lazuli, tin, borax, saltpetre, aluminium, agate, quartz, 
granite, and other silicates, zinc, antimony, chalcedony, barytes, 
magnesia, jasper, slate, lime, gypsum, argil, building stones, as 
granite, grindlestone, and various others in the arts and indus- 
tries. The exportations of the principal mineral products in 
the years 1874 and 1875 were as follows : — 

1874. 1875. 

Copper, in bars and ingots, 73,419,528 lbs. 78,287,486 ft>s. 

Copper regulus, 51,053,153 " 38,273,204 

Silver in bars, 164,603 " 161,618 

Copper and silver regulus, 8,635,690 " 6,302,802 

Copper ores, 12,817,618 " 19,131,921 

Silver regulus, 93,429 " 82,238 

Stone coal, 578,600 

Mineral exports from 1844 to 1875 : 

Value. 

Copper in bars and ingots, . . $155,077,806 

Copper regulus, .... 84,515,195 

Silver in bars, .... 71,544,629 

Copper ores, . . . 33-553.903 

Gold and silver coin, . . . 21,263,964 

Silver ores, ..... 15,708,542 



38 

Value. 
Copper and silver regulus, . . $13,189,958 

Stone coal, ..... 6,089,632 

Gold bullion, .... 2,017,164 

At the Continental Exhibition, held at Buenos Ayres 
(March to August, 1882), Chile, although having had only a 
month for preparation, competed with great honor to her 
natural productions and manufactures. She received seven- 
teen medals of the first class, some of the second, and many 
bronze medals and honorable mentions, amounting in all to 
one hundred and seventeen premiums, The products which 
attracted the most attention in this international strife were 
her cloths, ropes, sugar, liquors, especially the wines, which 
are so superior and are receiving such incalculable advances. 

The native timbers exhibited by the National Agricultural 
Society, one of the most beneficial institutions of the country, 
were represented by two hundred different kinds. The lumber 
of Chile is excellent. At the south there exists a species of 
wood, the luma of Chiloe, of the consistency of iron. In 1827 
the government of France gave a contract for bringing Chilean 
timbers to her navy yards, and during the colonial days there 
were built in Talcahuano and Valparaiso no less than ten 
native-built vessels of ordinary size. But now the Chilean 
government buys all her war vessels in Europe, and only 
builds launches and flat-boats at the mouth of the Maule and 
other rivers. These launches are sent to Peru, and even to 
Ecuador, manned by only two men, and carrying generally 
cargoes of wood and lumber. 

Chile must of necessity ultimately become an industrial 
nation like England, Switzerland, and the German provinces of 
the Rhine. The Argentine Republic, New Zealand, Austria and 
California are competing with the same agricultural products, 
and already usurp Chile's former supremacy. Foreign immi- 
gration and the completion of the transandine railroad, which 
is in process of construction from the other side of the Andes, 
will contribute to the favorable solution of the matter. 



39 



NATURAL RESOURCES. 



The most stable and healthy natural wealth of Chile is 
found in its agriculture. Mr. Cuadra, the present Secretary of 
the Treasury, estimated ten years ago that the value of real 
estate in Chile was $700,000,000. To-day, with the improve- 
ments* introduced and the higher value of land, the total valua- 
tion should not be less than $ 1 ,000,000,000. No calculation can 
be made of the mineral wealth. The silver mines of Copiapo 
and Atacama are recovering their former richness ; and the 
copper mines, although much reduced, still yield considerable 
quantities. A single one, the Pique mine at Tamaya, has 
yielded, in the last twenty years, $12,000,000. Lately (Sep- 
tember, 1882) rich discoveries of silver have been made in the 
Cachinal Mountains near Taltal. The value of these new 
mines is estimated at hundreds of thousands and even millions 
of dollars. Recent discoveries of gold have also been made 
which evince the ancient wealth of this country in that metal for 
which it was so famous in the time of the incas. It has been 
calculated that in the eighteenth century, thanks to the cheap- 
ness of labor, Chile produced not less than thirty thousand 
pounds of gold, and in the time of Valdivia, from one mine 
alone, the Quilacoya, the Indians took out two hundred pounds 
a day. In 188 1 some traces of this wealth were found in the 
ravines about Lebu, not far from the spot where that great 
captain was sacrificed. This confirms the opinion that no small 
part of the ransom of Atahualpa came from Chile. During 
this same year it is calculated that these ravines at Lebu yielded 
a half million dollars, notwithstanding the washings were 
operated under the old form of monopoly which the Spanish 
laws gave to the discoverer, and not in accordance with the 
system of free labor, personal reward, and licenses which have 
produced such prodigious results in California, New Zealand 
and Australia. 



40 

The circulating capital of Chile, as represented last year 
by the principal banks, was as follows : 



Banks. 


O d 
s-h N 
rt.'c 


Nominal 
capital sub- 
scribed. 


Capital 
paid in. 


Availabl 


2 Capital. 


Reserve 

fund. 


Total. 


Valparaiso, 

National, 

Alianza, 

Agricola, 

Concepcion, 

Consolidado, 

Mobiliario, 

Union, 

A. Edwards & Co., 

Matte & Co., 

Melipilla, 


1856 
1865 

1868 

1871 

1870 

1873 
1867 
1875 
1878 


$20,500,000 
16,000,000 

1,593,600 
1,000,000 

500,000 

60,000 


15,125,000 
4,000,000 

1,593,600 
400,000 

1,125,000 

216,500 

1,500,000 

1 ,000,000 

60,000 


$600,000 
500,00(1 

22,500 
50,600 

70,000 

15,000 

250,000 

3,200 


$5,725,000 
4,500,000 

1,616,100 
450,600 

1,195,000 

231,500 

1,750,000 

1 ,000,000 

63,200 


Total, 

June 30, 1881. 




$39> 6 53> 6o ° 


$15,020,100 


$i,5ii,3oo$i6,53i,4oo 



The great private fortunes are as numerous in Chili, con- 
sidering its extent and importance, as in the United States. 
The Edwards family possesses a fortune of thirty millions ; the 
Cousino-Goyenechea family, owners of the coal mines of 
Lota, possesses a fortune of .fifteen millions ; the Matte and 
Brown families possess similar amounts. In February, 1882, 
there was published a list of seventy-eight Chilean millionaires, 
representing the sum of one hundred and eighty million dollars. 

There are also numerous societies of credit, industries, 
mines, coal, etc. One of these, the Lota Coal Mining Com- 
pany, has an annual net profit of nine hundred thousand dol- 
ars. There is also a loan association and a hypothecating 
bank, which have made loans of many millions to the land 
owners and renters. Recently life insurance companies have 
begun to do business here. The Equitable Company of New 
York stands at the head by its honesty, amount of its capital, 
and number of its policies. 

NATIONAL REVENUES. 

The national revenues have increased extraordinarily. 
During the time of the colony, when the public expenses did 
not exceed $300,000, they were entirely provided for by annual 



appropriations made by the Viceroy of Peru for the support 
of the army. The total expenses in 1776, under Governor 
Jauregui, were $295,277. In 1810, at the time of the emanci- 
pation, the revenues had reached $400,000. With free trade, 
development of agriculture, mining and other industries, the 
income quintupled during the last ten years of the war for 
independence (1816-26). The estimate that year, under 
President Freire, was, $1,736,823. In 1836, under President 
Prieto, the revenues had augmented to $2,321,936; ten years 
later, in 1846, under President Bulnes, to $3,741,672; and in 
the next decade, under President Montt (1856), to $5,708,058. 
Since that epoch, on account of the introduction of railroads, 
the institution of banks (1855), the introduction of paper 
money (1878), the development of coal mining on a large scale, 
and the cheapening of blasting materials for mines, the 
incomes have doubled every ten years, as follows : 
Administration of President Perez, 1866, $9,079,9,36 

" Errazuris, 1878, 16,830,000 

Santa Maria, 1882, 39,008,219 

PUBLIC EXPENSES. 

A century ago the expenses of the government, indicat- 
ing the state of advancement of the various services, are repre- 
sented by the following figures, given by President Amat : 
Government service, ..... $4,596 

Custom Houses, ..... 9,460 

Interior, ...... 9,500 

War, ...... 198,278 

Courts, ...... 31,465 

Church (not including tithes), . . . 320 

Treasury, ...... 49,714 



Total, ..... $295,277 
Sixty years later, in 1836, the expenses had reached the 
following : 

Home and foreign service, .... $328,251 
Interior department, .... 776,409 

Army and navy, ..... 939,542 

Total, ..... Si, 990, 202 



42 

In 1 88 1 they had reached the following: 

Interior, ..... #4,699,581.39 

Foreign relations, . . #101,515 

Colonization, . . . 180,536 

— 282,051.00 



Courts, . . . . #658,545.22 

Church, . . . 237,030.00 

Education, . . . 1,119,620.44 

2,015,195.66 

Treasury, . . . . 7,613,963.63 

Army, .... #1,314,585.44 

National Guards, . . 299,508.78 



: — 1,614,094.22 

Navy, . . . . . . 2,299,676.64 



Total, .... #18,524,562.54 

PUBLIC DEBT. 

The home and foreign debt of Chile, according to careful 
statistics, prepared in the government offices, to June 1, 1882, 
was as follows : 

Foreign debt (gold 48 pence to the dollar), #34,870,000.00 

Home debt (gold 35 pence to the dollar, the 

present rate of exchange), . . 56,546,384.85 



Total, . . . . #91,416,384.85 

HISTORY. 

Governor Don Diego de Almagro, discontented with the 
portion of the treasures of Peru which fell to his lot in the dis- 
tribution made by his famous comrade Don Francisco Pizarro, 
resolved to advance to the discovery and conquest of Chile, 
which was already famous for its abundance of gold. The 
name, Chile, according, to some, is derived from child, from 
chichua (cold), from the snows on the mountains which the 
Peruvians had to cross ; and, according to others, from the 
name of the cacique of Aconcagua, in the time of the Spanish 
invasion. 



43 

The incas had conquered the country, as far south as the 
Maule River, a century before, and had established a kind of 
valley confederation. They had manufactories of pottery and 
coarse fabrics at Melipilla, Talagante, and the Mapocho River, 
the ruins of which are yet visible. They worked the rich gold 
mines and washings, which, according to Rosalis, paid the 
inca at Cuzco an annual tribute of 14.% arrobas of gold (312^ 
pounds). They marked the ingots with the breasts of a 
woman. 

The incas erected temples to the sun in Quillota, Colina, 
and other places ; introduced the llama as a beast of burden, 
and opened canals, as that of Salto, which still irrigates the 
plain .of Santiago. The dominion of the incas, by rights, 
extended to the Maule. They defended with great firmness 
the valley of the Mapocho, with forces summoned from Cal- 
lipiumo, in Paine pass, to the south of the Cachapoal, which 
proves that really their dominion only extended to the northern 
bank of this river. 

It is curious that Chilli means cold in Quichua and the 
same (chilly) in English ; and also that the first Spaniard to 
penetrate into the interior was not Almagro, but a soldier 
named Pedro Calvo Barrientos, whose ears had been cut off in 
Cuzco for some crime, and who came to hide his dishonor in 
the valley of the Aconcagua, to whose caciques he taught 
the art of war. Almagro did not get any farther than 
Aconcagua and Melipilla, where he found a little gold. His 
captain, Gomez de Alvarado, having notified him that the 
rivers to the south, in such a hard winter (1 536), would be found 
impassable, and the frontiers of the ferocious Promauca Indians 
who^ lived from the Cachapoal to the Bio-Bio, defended, he 
returned to Cuzco by way of the desert of Atacama, Tarapaca 
and Arequipa, meeting with great hardships. He was beheaded 
by his ungrateful rivals in 1538. 

Captain Pedro de Valdivia, who was more youthful and 
vigorous, asked permission of Pizarro to go and settle Chile 
in his name. Leaving Cuzco with a hundred and forty 
soldiers, in October, 1540, he founded Santiago, February 
12, 1 541. This great explorer traversed the whole country, 



44 

and subdued it as far as the city of Valdivia. He took 
away large quantities of gold, which soon attracted a numer- 
ous immigration. He founded Serena, Valparaiso, Concepcion, 
and seven cities in Araucania, which were then the principal 
ones of Chile. Their ruins still exist, and are being repeopled 
slowly by the Chileans, as Angol, Imperial, Villa Rica and 
Arauco. But the Araucanian Indians — brave, indomitable, 
and excellent horsemen, like the Apaches of New Mexico — 
revolted, and killed Valdivia near this last-named city, on 
Christmas Eve, 1553. From this date the decadence of the 
colony began. 

During the reign of Philip III. several illustrious captains, 
such as Garcia Ramon (1600) and Alfonso de Rivera (161 2), 
came from Spain, and succeeded in somewhat allaying the 
eternal rebellion of these savages, who, during the first century 
of the conquest, cost Spain a hundred thousand lives and 
eighty million ducats. 

During the seventeenth century there were several notable 
administrators and warriors, among them Fernandez de Cor- 
dova (1625), Lazo de la Vega (1629), the Marquis of Baides 
(1646), and, especially, Don Juan Henriques, who governed 
in the time of Charles II. (1670). Under the government of 
his successor, Jose de Garro, called " the Holy " because of 
his probity and disinterestedness, the kingdom was afflicted 
by an invasion of buccaneers (1680-85), an( ^ having been 
before greatly injured by the earthquake of 1647, the previous 
wars, pestilence, and droughts, it was now determined to relin- 
quish it; so it was totally abandoned to its ancient barbarous 
possessors. The seventeenth century was the dark age for the 
colony. 

It is worthy of observation, that, among the Spanish pos- 
sessions of the new world, Chile and New Grenada alone 
received the name of " kingdom." Peru, the Plate, and even 
Mexico, were only vice-royalties. 

During the eighteenth century several important fran- 
chises were granted to commerce, and the richness of the gold 
mines attracted a strong current of economical working-people 
from Biscay ; and, with this labor and honesty, the colony gained 



45 

great prosperity. Presidents Manso, Amat, O'Higgins and 
Jauregui, — all of whom were afterwards viceroys of Peru, — 
distinguished themselves among its captains-general as able 
administrators. It is owing to the energy which the riches 
and prosperity produced in the colonial aristocracy, that Chile 
raised, in conjunction with Buenos Ayres, Caracas and Bogota, 
the cry of independence, and named its first President and Gov- 
erning Assembly September 18, 1810. There followed an unset- 
tled and discordant period called the " Old Country," in which 
the viceroy of Peru, Abascal, was permitted to govern the 
country again. His successor, Pesuela, sent an army to sub- 
due the country, which, under the command of General Ossorio, 
overthrew the patriot forces at Rancagua October 2, 18 14. 
But San Martin, governor of Mendoza, with the remnant of 
the Chilean army, which had fled across the Andes, and the 
generous assistance of Buenos Ayres, formed a division 
of four thousand men, and making use of seven thou- 
sand mules and three thousand horses, he crossed the 
Andes of Aconcagua, as Hannibal had crossed the Alps, 
in January, 1 8 17, and completely overthrew the Span- 
iards in the battles of Chacabuco (February 12,1817) and 
Maipo (April 5, 1818). This era has been called the " New 
Country." General O'Higgins was named dictator February 
16, 18 17, and accomplished the independence of Peru, San 
Martin advancing to Lima with the united armies of Chile and 
La Plata, July 21, 182 1. He declared the independence of 
Peru the 28th of the same month. He had been powerfully 
assisted by the Chilean squadron, commanded by the famous 
Lord Cochrane and the young admiral Blanco Encalada. 
But after San Martin had left, and O'Higgins had been super- 
seded, by a popular movement, January 28, 1823, there fol- 
lowed a series of political fluctuations and trials caused chiefly 
by Presidents Freire, Pinto, and Vicuna, until the liberal or 
pipiolos administration was overthrown by the old conservative 
or pelncones party of O'Higgins, under the command of Gen- 
eral Prieto and his counsellor, Diego Portales, in the bloody 
battle of Lircai, April 17, 1830. 

Prieto, the victorious general, was named constitutional 



4 6 

president, for the defense of the conservative constitution, 
which was promulgated May 25, 1833. Portales was made 
his Prime Minister. He had been simply a merchant in San- 
tiago and Lima, but succeeded in governing the country until 
Peru was in war a second time in 1836. This powerful minister 
was murdered in a mutiny of the expeditionary troops (June 
6, 1837). Chile continued the war under the command of 
General Bulnes, who had been one of the chief founders of 
the Republic. He was always victorious, and overthrew the 
Peru-Bolivian confederation, destroying its army under Santa 
Cruz in the celebrated battle of Yungai (January 20, 1839). 

Through this means the political parties of Chile were 
reconciled and the victorious general was elected president. 
And from that time an epoch of aggrandizement and prosperity 
began for Chile. For fifty years this prosperity has had but 
brief interruptions (185 1 and 1859) caused by political contro- 
versies and bad passions at election times. In great contrast 
with all the other republics of the Spanish race, the presidents, 
Prieto, Bulnes, Montt and Perez each ruled for the constitu- 
tional period of ten years. During the term of the last-named, 
the war between Spain and Peru (1865-66) took place. Chile 
generously rushed to the defense of Peru, and spent uselessly 
$30,000,000, and allowed its principal port to be bombarded 
rather than dishonor her flag before the Spanish Government 
and Admiral Mendez Nunez. 

The Constitution of 1833 was reformed by the liberal 
Congresses which sat during the administration of President 
Perez. The term of the presidential office was limited to five 
years. Then followed President Federico Errazuris, who 
began the great public works, and armed the country 1871-76; 
and Anibal Pinto, whose administration is chiefly notable for 
the war into which the country was drawn in 1 879 (and which 
still continues) in consequence of a secret treaty against her, 
made between Peru and Bolivia in 1873, but not discovered 
until seven years later. 

In this long war Chile has only received victory, pres- 
tige and riches, which have placed it along with the Argen- 
tine Republic at the head of all the nations of like origin. 



47 

The port of Antofagasta was occupied February 14, 1879, 
and some Bolivian skirmishers dispersed in a slight engage- 
ment at Calama on the banks of the Loa, on the 23d of the 
following March. A maritime war was begun, but was with- 
out decisive results until the capture of the famous Peruvian 
monitor Huascar before Angamos Point, October 8 of the 
same year. The ocean thus freed from the enemy's vessels, 
ten thousand Chilean soldiers were landed at Pisagua, a port 
of Tarapaca, November 2, 1879, and in the battle of San Fran- 
cisco one-half of this force overthrew the allied Peruvian and 
Bolivian army of eleven thousand men. From that day Chile 
has remained in peaceful possession of all this rich and desir- 
able territory as far as the Camarones River. After these 
victories the operations of the army were retarded by vain 
hopes of peace, and it became necessary to undertake a second 
campaign against the provinces of Moquehua and Tacna, 
which resulted in the bloody battle of Tacna, in which the 
allies were again defeated May 26, 1880. Twenty thousand 
combatants were engaged on the two sides. 

The port of Arica was taken by assault at the point of 
the bayonet, the 7th of the following June ; and although 
it would have been an easy and opportune undertaking to 
carry the victory into unarmed and panic-stricken Lima, new 
negotiations of peace were entered upon which delayed the 
result, and protracted the definitive campaign through eight 
months more. At the end of December, 1880, 25,000 Chile- 
ans set sail in three divisions from Arica. They occupied the 
valley of the Lurin strategically to the end of this month. 
They then undertook the assault of the formidable works, which 
were defended by 30,000 men and 200 cannon, and protected 
Lima. The 17th of January, 1881, they victoriously entered 
that capital for the third time during the century, after having 
totally annihilated both the army and the squadron on the 
previous days, the 13th and 15th, in the celebrated battles of 
San Juan, Chorillos, and Miraflores, — the most bloody and 
greatest that have ever taken place in South America. 

The three campaigns of Antofagasta, Tacna, and Lima, 
which brought about ten combats and battles, besides several 



48 

other encounters and blockades, cost the army and navy 
of Chile 10,000 men in killed and wounded, without counting 
the considerable number of ^:ck and disabled, caused by the 
unhealthy climate of Peru. 

The cost of the war has been $30,000,000, not counting 
the indirect losses, which have, perhaps, been twice as much. 
These losses, and the total extinction of the military power of 
Peru, should have produced immediate peace after the decisive 
battles which took place at Lima. But a generous and equivo- 
cal policy on the part of Chile, and the unreasonable and 
unwarranted interference on the part of Secretary Blaine, of 
the United States, which effected, by means of his agents, 
Hurlbut.in Lima, and Adams in La Paz, have caused the war 
to be indefinitely prolonged, thus imposing heavy expenses of 
money and life on Chile, without bettering, in the least, the 
defenders, who are spending their last strength in desperation, 
and without causing the least manifestation of inability on the 
part of the victor to maintain her interests, her future, and her 
security, and, much less, to accept the forced intervention of 
any neutral power, European or American. 

B. V. M. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

015 923 306 6 # 




